policy and that the government isn't serving the interests of ordinary, everyday citizens, that lack of public confidence compromises somebody possibility to lead. both are absolutely essential. i think both are absolutely essential. i don't recall the governor say that i thought -- they thought i did not tell the truth. i have questions for the governor ethically. i think they will be important issues to the campaign. me remind everybody there are three of us on the stage and only one of us has violated the law in connecticut with respect to elections and paid a fine this year because of that. i think you are absolutely right. history is a precursor to the future. with respect to the issues we will debate back and forth, i want to be very clear that i don't think you have told the

truth about it. you never did and i don't think you're telling it as of today. >> let's move on. this race is gaining national attention. quite a bit of rest in the back row. of the gunause issue. i would like to spend a minute or two looking at that. here is a question i have not heard either one of you address. in february of this year. 200 citizens reminding them or informing them that their application to register their assault weapon or high-capacity magazine was rejected. we have a list. how --addresses, we know what weapons and how many. we also have a law that says if you're in possession of unregistered weapons, it's a felony. are we going to enforce that law?

>> i think we are enforcing the law. a number of those issues were resolved. i did not know you were going to ask that question and i don't have an exact number for you. >> 208. >> let me be very clear. with ave no person felony should be able to buy a gun in connecticut. i believe that everyone should be subject to a background check. a plane't get on without someone doing a background check on me, i don't think that should be having --ple have background checks buying guns without background checks. some of those folks have mental illness, some of those folks have recent -- this is unbelievable.

they have recent domestic orders against them and they were trying to buy a gun. i believe we save the life and i think that legislation is important. what we've done is make connecticut safer. i can point to real statistics. crime is down. homicides are down. only the fourth time in 45 years that homicides have been less than 100 and they are at 83. and this very year we are sitting on the stage, we are running at the same rate we were last year. cousin mobley we would have the fifth year. making schools safer and teachers safer. if that is what this fight is about, let them be joined.

you will not seek a repeal of this law and you see no reason to try to spend time changing it. so would be safe in assuming that if you get elected, you take the oaths of office and uphold the laws in the state of connecticut, you will enforce the law and get those guns? >> afore we answer that, let me talk about guns because this is important. we have a terrible tragedy in this state in the news around the world. i consider the state part of that community. we are deeply affected by that. there is a response from the government and the leadership. malloy,o governor please respond to this, the needy citizens in the state that want something done.

the governor did not do that. and he didn't do things to prevent another new town from happening. i don't think we are safer based on the bill that he passed. don't know what his motive was possibly aching, progressive agenda he is trying to experiment with and maybe there are other issues at hand. this was so overreaching that it what would have been an appropriate response. about law-abiding interested inwere self protection. if you don't do

something within two or three months, you will be a felon. what were you thinking? that aspect of the law i would change. law-abiding citizens were responsible people, and flip something on them so there is something they did in the past that turns them into appellant is simply unacceptable and is not good leadership and his grandstanding. >> you're only taking time away from the candidates will give you plenty of time to clap at the end. there are 200 citizens sitting up there and they know they are on a list. they know that they can show up witheir door at any moment an arrest warrant. don't they deserve to know what you're going to do?

maybe they are law-abiding. maybe they got rid of them. i am happy to get you an update on what those numbers are and if some of those folks have rectified the situation. can't drive a car without a license. i can't sell insurance without a license. tom and i haven't had a conversation about this issue ever. so when tom says he's telling me something, he's not telling the truth. if we had a conversation, i would have asked you should a person be able to buy a gun without a background check? should a person be able to buy a gun without a background check? yes or no. >> no. >> should a person with a mental illness be able to buy a gun without a background check? >> it would depend on the severity of the mental illness

and with the diagnosis was. who has aout someone recent order against them? a protective order? >> you want to go over the whole bill? >> it's the first opportunity they have had to ask you. >> the things we say that we are interviewed in the press are available in the press. if you're not looking at it, your staff can tell you i did tell you this. >> you admit we never had a conversation? >> we have conversations all the time in the press. >> ladies and gentlemen, it's about these two guys. it give them the respect and let them have this conversation so that we are better informed. >> to go one step further, there is an organization that has or is about to endorse tom foley for governor. on the basis of his gun

position. of thatident organization said that they had that discussion with tom foley where he says they would sign an appeal of that legislation i theyheard tom say that would consider signing an appeal. let me be very clear. if an appeal comes to mean, i will never sign a repeal. i will have a discussion about how to make that law better and the discussion how to make it work easier for folks. it has led to lower crime, fewer homicides, safer schools, teachers, administrators, they will be very clear. >> this is where you're twisting the truth again. what i said is that if the legislature handed me a repeal provision, i would sign it.

that's not saying i would seek repeal of the bill. looked at what it would take to be able to pardon anybody who was pursued for one of these felonies and the governor doesn't pardon people directly but he appoints commissioners to the pardoning board. if i am governor, if anybody is pursued under this law for not having registered a firearm, i will make sure they are not prosecuted. >> you clearly didn't read the -- oration that governs the provisions that govern pardons. you have to be really specific about this stuff. you should tell us about the other litmus tests that you have at some point.

you accuse people of a career politician. that and jesus gave was a career politician answer. i don't know if it will get to me, but if it gets to me i will sign it. it get it done, have it get before me. which is a very different position. >> will you get your questions in today? the governor talked about crime rates. violent crime rates have gone down across the country. we have three of the top six with the highest crime rates in the country. hartford and new haven. for the governor to be going around saying that crime is low

and not a problem is insulting to those communities. we have to get crime rates down. people are afraid to leave their homes at night. young people are being shot and killed and businesses are being affected. the governor says everything is fine with crime. >> i did not say everything is fine with crime. that is why i was in new haven last friday with a mother who lost her son and her sister who had lost his son 10 years before. that is why i am encouraging communities to be reinvested in community police. something that is leading to a larger drop in crime for the national average. that is why we rot project leading inhich are the decline in the

national average. timee down for the fourth in 45 years and we are going to do it again this year by all reports. that is real progress and i am proud of it. theye proud of the efforts are putting in to make schools stronger and make housing stronger. if you want to know what causes in manyt's the failure cases of public housing project that we are allowed to deteriorate to become really dance. dense. i get excited about the possibilities of connecticut. if you want to lead with the fact that those communities have high crime, i understand that. but they're also dropping that crime very substantially. the mayor of new haven, the mayor of bridgeport, they should be proud.

>> the governor describes progress which i would not consider progress. we're the only state that has three cities in the crime rate statistics. >> they were tops before i was governor. >> we can move onto the next one. education. i think i received more e-mails from people that wanted me to have you folks talk about education. thisave criticized administration for education funding based on a percentage of the overall budget over these four years. if you look at the actual dollars being spent, it has increased each year. that theu feel percentage of education funding is more important than the actual dollars?

>> it shows the commitment and priority of the governor. anythingiled to do about state spending so it is skyrocketing. the tax increase that he put on connecticut citizens in 2011. we are already spending more than that. if they are slowing down in terms of the rate of growth, it is less of a priority for you than the things you're speeding up. i look at performance. in the performance in our schools is actually dropped. i was the one who started talking about the need to fix schools in 2010. we have the largest achievement gap. it is simply inexcusable. the assessments used to measure

the achievement gap, on one of them we approved -- improved and others we got worse. we have slipped. performance.eal they initiated real education reform and were eight best in the nation and we were six. since then, massachusetts is going to number one. ground lost further under governor malloy and this will be a top priority. the promise of america is fairness. an opportunity. they are not getting a decent education.

the level of funding has decreased. >> if your plan to control state spending is to keep funding level for the first two years, how do you correct what you obviously see as a problem of the percentage of money going to education? >> you have to have smarter policies. not all things that affect educational outcomes cost money. some of these are policy related. he is doing things that basically don't work and we know from the experience of other states, they don't work. other things have been done in other states that do work that he is not doing.

as a measure of the priority that he places. >> i sense that you have something to say. >> i do. we haven't heard a specific proposal on education. and we have this kind of convoluted argument about whether we are spending the same percentage or a higher percentage. the number you get to, you are including all of the additional money coming to connecticut. not for education, primarily peopled, but 500,000 that the state cares for because of mental illness because of age and disease. you are including all of that.

in fact, the average increase -- we have found hundreds of millions of dollars to send to school districts. doing.say what we are we are working with the school to turn it around. the principles, the boards of education, a complete teacher bias. to make sure that school does things better and has the resources necessary to turn itself around. it is paramount for success in school. we created a thousand additional spots.

in the state of connecticut, they would not have a prekindergarten experience. we know what works in education. thousands and thousands of teachers and parents would've lost their jobs. last size would balloon. the new haven community that you say that you care about would be hit the hardest. we are doing things to turn education around. that is why we now rank number one in reading. rank numberwe now one tied with two other states. and the number of students taking advanced placement tests and their performance including 13.5% of those people that come from poor backgrounds. i am proud of that, i am proud graduation rates have gone up

every single year since i have been governor. i am proud of the progress we are making that the kids are making and that the administrators are making and that the board of education are making. this is important stuff. if you want to talk about economic development, it's not overnight. it's built line by line, career by career. school by school. that is what we are doing. >> let me stay on that point if i can. your education reform has had some serious pushback. you attribute to your remark about teacher tenure that they only have to show up? >> i should admit that was bad language and it was not actually about them. you have a time in which it becomes very important and it is treated differently. i shouldn't have said it ande f.

let's go back to the reference to governor wells. what we are doing under my administration is what massachusetts did in the 1990's under that administration. the same thing. access to prekindergarten, smaller classroom size. extended days when applicable. schools closer to where the kids are living. holding people accountable. not just teachers. at ministry was, kids, and parents. the point out governor wells success for something he started in the 90's and say massachusetts is making progress, you're absolutely right. it has been done over time. there is this other thing that tom sometimes uses when he describes educational reform. he says i am education reform light. he wants to bring in other systems that he hasn't said a single word about about what he

would do. >> i have a couple things to say here. first of all, you have just introduced maloy madness into the debate. use it spending has only gone up by 28% but you have taken out of the budget a very significant amount of money which is the federal portion of medicaid. you have taken it out of the revenue side and spending side so you're not being truthful with the audience here. if you add that spending back end or if you take it out of the base year budget, it's gone up while -- over 4.5%. you're simply misleading people and twisting the numbers. stop doing it because the citizens deserve to know what is going on.

if you're going to change something important to the schools, why wouldn't you include teachers and the echogue -- in the dialogue teachers have the highest impact on educational outcomes. we need teachers, good teachers. we need them to feel appreciated and we need them to be well compensated. a proposal andh rammed it down everybody's throats without consulting. they are the ones that will have to implement this. it's not going to work. bit of stylettle here that's a problem. you had engage people in the dialogue.

you have to believe in it. and you mandated from the capital that we are going to tell everybody what to do. guess what? under local control, a lot of schools are doing a great job in connecticut. go to the problem and fix the schools that are broken. they rammed assessment at, core down our schools and communities that already have very good , you loaded a whole new set of parameters on top of them to take away from teaching time.

i'm not surprised you got some pushback. >> you have been running for governor for five years. and you don't really understand the legislative process. we have a bill that people agreed to. in fact, the review process was led by teachers. we always have to work with teachers. and they have ignored them for times, leaving teachers in the lurch. every step of the way, nancy has met with teacher groups and individual teachers with heads of the associations to have those very discussions.

and you want by district school choice and that will happen your one. what do you think it does to their pride? hartford, new haven, and bridgeport. and you're happy to ignore them when it works for you.

tom, people have looked at what you have said and what i have said about education spending. everyone says that when you said i was spending less money that you are not telling the truth. it is less than the percentage would be. but you're talking about federal program dollars. i take pride in the fact we have introduced obamacare better than any other state in the nation. started years before hand. and it cause federal dollars to come into the state and tom says we should compare. >> let me point out your down to 10 minutes now. -- you are down to 10 minutes now. are talking about a lot of

things. when you talk about education reform, it's all about doing a better job for children. to make better choices on behalf of the children, i'm for it. the governor apparently isn't. i do have an education policy and a plan that restoring pride and prosperity, maybe you haven't read it. i have a lot of initiatives for education reform that i think will make schools better and better things that you didn't do . we will see. >> give us your take about what

happened in sprague, what did you do there? it is promoting the governor, he is complicit in it. i went in support of the hundred thatople -- 145 people lost their jobs there. they are contributing to driving jobs out of connecticut. met by senator austin who was sent there i assume by the governor and the staff. she was a heckler. , and got akling me little tired after the first few minutes.

they contribute to those jobs being lost. i went there for that reason. it has nothing to do with the big company. there are two members of the union there, i don't know if they work there or just members of the union leadership. and the senator and the press is a, and one other person registered republican. i said that senator austin had failed because she was involved in some of the policy decisions. when i say it failed, it simply

not true. they were saying that they had tried to negotiate a better deal . it has failed. the leaders had failed to keep their jobs there. >> what happened there? i don't know quite what the governor is talking about, suggesting that i shut down a ill that was shut down several i sold it. a growth of 3000 jobs in that company. he is suggesting it's a $20 million and i don't know where isgets this stuff here it

nothing like that going on. i didn't even pay myself a salary. there are no domestic manufacturers that the company made now. so, listen, i think i did a very good job with that company, losing $14 million or $50 million when i bought it. it would have gone under if i hadn't gotten involved, i kept it going for another 11 years. benefits andthe employment of the workers that were there and the deal that was reached. company and another closed it in 1998 or 1999. it was integrated to another company that eventually failed. to blame me for that is simply untrue.

>> briefly before we go on to another subject. closed995, you said you two mills and consolidated others. you are being quoted. what a to tell people who the subsequent owners were? ond owners you had defaulted with a $9 million loan payment. as you were running the company into the ground and taking fees. you were quoted by a reporter that had another conversation with you about your continuation of taking fees as late as 1994 and 1995 year. 5. you were a 90% owner of the company and when all of that transpired and the bondholders took stock because they were not going to be paid in bonds, your

percentage went over 90% to 5%. you were on the board when another factory closed. -- by the way, you looked at her worker and told them it was their fault. those factories in the south, you left out that you bought another company -- [indiscernible] alongu split off things the way and kept some, right? [talking over each other] did you keep one of the things? >> you are the governor of the state of connecticut. people are feeling a huge squeeze in this state. their incomes might be level or declining and the cost of living is going up. a lot of people can't afford to live in this state anymore. way too many people are unemployed.

why are you spending so much time looking at some deal i supposedly did in the 1990's? you must've spent hours on that. [applause] >> leaves. -- please. >> why are you insulting voters with ads about something you claim happened and i claim didn't happen with a very different story on television and have a real interest in knowing about the future of connecticut. it is insulting to voters. stop the negative ads. >> let me be very clear. you admitted that the company was in trouble as of 1988 after you purchased -- >> so you spent more time on it? >> you told us it will take eight years.

and you leave out that you defaulted to your bondholders. i think it is important. town,ou show up to the not having called the mayor or anybody to make a point about me, and you're blaming water bills that are municipal and not state. when the company that you own failed, did you go to their governors and blame them? applause]d >> you are not helping anybody, you are really not. please, quiet. let them talk. you get your chance on november 4. we grew 3000 jobs when i

owned it, the company was much better off as a result of my ownership. if the governor wants to spend hours studying this, i don't think voters care. when you talk about the future of connecticut. tom, before you even closed on that purchase, you had agreed to sell -- >> we are talking weeks you must've spent on this. >> tell us how you grew those jobs. you never said that before. you acquired other firms which, by the way, is what ultimately caused it to fail. >> let's move on. one of the questions i get asked more than any other question is why does the state of connecticut take hundreds of thousands of dollars to help the company move from one city to the next? >> we don't.

we don't in my administration. in a prior administration we did -- pay to move. any deal requires the addition of jobs. in 1000 jobs in the case you're talking about. ofomes far in excess $100,000. so when tom says people are hurting, i'm trying to do things to bring jobs to the state. let's talk about reality. when we started our recovery in the state of connecticut in february of 10, we have grown more than any other state in new england. we are 22 percentage points ahead on new housing starts. the commerce department came out just recently, stating last quarter growth.

we were better than every other state in new england and we knocked the socks off of most of them. you can get people to come to your state or keep them in your state and try to get jobs. there are other things you have to do. i have done that on your behalf. this is a lot of long-term hard work. i was mayor stanford for 14 years.

>> this is really simple. outgovernor is driving jobs of state and is having to bribe people to stay here. he is antibusiness, he has antibusiness policies. overzealous regulation. and has the citizens driven up the cost of energy. mandates and employers. , if i were to listen to him, i would really be upset. multiple billions of dollars at this point. to help people get reelected. they have something to do with people assessing his performance.

money tong taxpayer get businesses to stay here. there isn't anybody that has taken a course in economics that would make sense for a state to pay $1 million to bring the job to the state. he is doing this. what about bridgewater? you can't say you didn't try. jobs, in00 additional excess of $100,000. >> you are a businessman. you know that there are 49 other governors in the state with an incentive package ready to hand

over any company that would move into their state. startedernor christie luring companies, what did you do to keep them here. theike stepping on accelerator. he is antibusiness policies and rhetoric. all he has to do is take the foot off the brake. policies -- >> struggling with extra cost. have a progrowth agenda that is not antibusiness, it's supportive of employers.

you have to make sure you're trying to bring employers here. that is not everybody. the taxpayer dollars are being passed as well. incentives were off, they are going to leave if they are not already here. >> if other states are not we knowg for the jobs, that is not the case. just in california, they passed a new package because we are jobs,g some of their appropriating $329 million. in bc sports moved from new york

and came to connecticut. we got 35 jobs from your friends. we are building strength in the future. that is what we are doing. we have taken their playbook. about small business. and i became governor, there were no tools to help small business. that is why we created the small business express. made them with and and over 1200 firms.

creating 4000 jobs. businessesse small because we were doing that at a time that we could not get any money from traditional banks. i am proud that black men and hispanic women and caucasian men and women have all kinds of people finding jobs in the state of connecticut, good paying jobs . i don't want to be served in a restaurant by somebody. be havingnt did someone show up at a nursing home who has the flu can get other people sick. when we were running for governor, and iran saying i am supported of this. they did not have that benefit, they went to work sick because they were afraid they would lose their job.

they took care of the grandmother in the nursing home. >> when i hear you talk and i hear all the people i am talking to going around the state running for governor, sometimes i wonder if we live in a different state. creatinglking about jobs and this is working well. 1%, not 1% arown year. 1%. on your website there is a place they picked up 10,000 jobs. but the job increase we are using, they picked up the year before you became governor after the recession. while you have been governor, we 15,000 jobs a

year. and last year, 9200 jobs. we have one of the worst in the recovery rates in the country. massachusetts has grown 11%. it is not reasonable. it is what you are doing. you're hurting the citizens of the state with your policies and if you don't believe it, go talk to the people i have been talking to losing jobs. people that lost jobs because of your policies and have had to take on lower paying jobs or retired people that thought they would be able to retire at 65 and are still working at 70 because the cost of living is going up. think you have a driver that takes you around and you need to get out and talk to the citizens of connecticut because they don't feel your policies are working.

you made a reference, you have created your own mathematics. say that isn't true, somebody looks at it and they say, it is true. an independent person. newspapers, columnists, they've all done the numbers. i understand that what you have to do is make everyone feel as bad as they can. as bad ashings out they possibly can. we are working really hard to sustain connecticut in the future path of creating jobs of investing in infrastructure. we are doing it as rapidly as we can for ourselves, for future generations.

the idea that someone, after working 120 hours could accumulate one hour of six tisik time for every 40 hours they work. live, youbout where i live in a great place. i love it. but people in glass houses probably shouldn't throw stones. [applause] sprague, i did not get out of the backseat of the bmw. let me talk about the labor numbers because they really are important. there is a nonfarm labor number. the private sector wages have

gone down. gdp -- if he has created 70,000 jobs, that means average incomes have gone down. it's not really a great story. data is another set of called connecticut resident employment. a nonfarm data is by employers. numbersdent employment are filled out by households, connecticut residents. the governor is including jobs that are actually people that live in massachusetts and rhode island and new york. many of those construction jobs are going to people that live in massachusetts. this is with connecticut taxpayer dollars. he is including people that live in other states and leaving out

people who work on farms, people who are self-employed, and a host of other people your are connecticut citizens who i assume you represent. that 10,000 job number since you , that isted governors the number i would look at. toshouldn't be spending create jobs for people in other states. they should be looking after everybody in the state, not just people who work on farms and big companies. to ask one last question. i want to and this on a positive note. i think the three of us can agree that connecticut is a great place to live. you have 30 seconds. how do you make connecticut even better?

>> we continue to invest in education and infrastructure. thinkon't believe you only 10,000 have gone to connecticut residents. the kinds of investments that can be bioscience, and higher education that is making great progress and employing more people. >> how do we make connecticut even better? a skill to work for us, other universities and institutions, a beautiful shoreline and a rich history. we have so many things going for us but we have leadership taking us in the wrong direction. it is like the captain of the ship that is trying to get to the caribbean and the passengers

are seeing icebergs. most people would say, let's get a new captain. should be doing much better, we can do much better. we reach the point where it is time for the closing remarks. ambassador foley, you go first. let me make sure martin here has his timer set and ready. for listening to us tonight and i want to thank ray for hosting us. this is his last election. governor malloy and the one-party rule have brought us where we are. we have anemic job and economic growth partly because of the large tax increase in 2011. arele in connecticut

hard-working. i call it the big squeeze. declining and the cost of living is skyrocketing. feel they can't afford to live here anymore. spending is continuing to rise out of control. we have squandered the 2011 tax increase and he has no plan to get control over spending. he will have to raise taxes and that will make these problems even worse. have been traveling around the state and talking to people. they think governor malloy has had his chance. they think is progressive policy hasn't worked, isn't working, and has put a terrible burden on the citizens. they want change. what do we do about it?

we need to get control over spending. foreed to reduce taxes working families. we make the environment more supportive. i have a plan for doing so. "restoring pride and prosperity to connecticut." it talks about how we will get this done. >> times up, sir. i lookpe you read it and forward to taking connecticut in a better direction. >> governor, you get two minutes. >> ambassador, thank you for participating. the other day i was at a school that had been closed. today, we opened it.

there are kids that want to go into a trade. you can say as many nasty things about me and you want, i take pride in making sure that young people have a pathway to success. they help support the family that he was part of. he would be 100 to today -- 102 todya. ya. ay. he would be impressed. i can look at myself in the mirror and say, dad, i am trying to do what you would do. no shortcuts. get control of spending -- we are doing that. it control of taxes -- we are doing that. make important investments -- we are doing that. i have done about 70 town hall meetings in the time that tom

has been running for governor. real people and lifting them up. 60,000 jobs created, $10.10 for base salary. should work 35 or 40 hours a week and still live in poverty. and i am proud that we are going to move forward. i am very clear, nobody sick should be made to go to work except perhaps in some alternate universe where that makes sense. i am proud of what we are doing. we are investing in the future. thank you. >> ladies and gentlemen, now you may applaud. [applause]

>> a debate to between the candidates in the north carolina senate race. voters will choose between incumbent democratic senator kay hagan and republican challenger thomcandidates are neck and neck from the margin of error. >> tired of discussed >> i've been a paper boy. a short order cook, a warehouse cook and eventually a partner at i.b.m.

i'm thom tillis. i approve this message. lets make this right. >> hi. i'm kay hagan. one of the things i love about north carolina, is that unless you're talking basketball, you don't have to pick a team. republican, democrat, it's -- if the idea works for middle class families i'm all for it. i approve this message because i was so proud when i was ranked not too far left, not too far right, just like most carolina ans. >> our coverage continues. nell kashkari.es >> also too many, raffle nader